Stage I patients who have been carefully staged have a 5-year survival rate that exceeds 90%. Survival for stages III and IV is generally poor. Stage II tumors are uncommon (8% of serous carcinomas and represent an intermediate group which, depending on other factors including completeness of surgical removal and substage, can have widely varying survival and cure rates. Early de novo carcinoma, despite its small size, is associated with recurrence and death in about a third of cases, usually with widespread peritoneal disease.